Qualcomm introduced Snapdragon X Elite, an Apple M2 Max competitor

Qualcomm unveiled the highly anticipated Snapdragon X Elite desktop processor designed for devices operating on Windows with ARM. The company asserts that in tasks that require single-threaded performance, this new product outperforms Apple's M2 Max and Intel Core i9-13980HX. Furthermore, it is touted as being one of the most power-efficient processors available for PCs.

The Snapdragon X Elite is based on the latest Qualcomm Oryon cores, created thanks to the developments of Nuvia. The processor has 12 cores with a frequency of up to 3.8 GHz, but one or two cores can reach a frequency of 4.3 GHz. The Adreno GPU will offer 4.6 teraflops of performance, which is more than the Xbox Series S. The chip is manufactured using a 4nm process technology.

It comes with the DirectX 12 API support, and connectivity for up to two external 5K monitors or three 4K monitors. It is also expected to support two 36 MP cameras or one 64 MP camera with the ability to record 4K video in HDR.

In the Snapdragon Summit Keynote, Qualcomm's CEO Cristiano Amon discussed the performance details of the Snapdragon X Elite processor.

• The Snapdragon X Elite beats the Apple M2 Max in single-threaded performance. Peak performance is not inferior to its competitor, but the new product consumes 30% less energy.
• Snapdragon X Elite beats Intel Core i9-13980HX in single-threaded performance. Peak performance is not inferior to its competitor, but the new product consumes 70% less energy.
• Snapdragon X Elite is 50% more productive than the Apple M2 in multi-core mode.

Qualcomm claims the Snapdragon X Elite is twice as powerful as Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake processors, such as the Core i7-1355U (10-core) and Core i7-1360P (12-core), while using only 1/3 the peak power consumption from Intel solutions.

The Snapdragon X Elite GPU is twice as powerful as the Intel Iris Xe in the Core i7-13800H, while power consumption is ¼ of Intel's. Compared to the integrated graphics of AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS, the new product is 80% faster while reducing power consumption by the same 80%.

AI/NPU

The Neural Processing Unit (NPU) in the Snapdragon X Elite is designed to usher in a new era of local processing of artificial intelligence tasks. This is a very important component of the new product, as Microsoft plans to add many AI-based features to the upcoming Windows 12.

Qualcomm claims Hexagon NPU performance reaches 45 TOPs (Tera Operations Per Second). This is enough to locally run generative AI models LLM (large language models) with 13 billion parameters.

The first devices based on Snapdragon X Elite will go on sale in mid-2024. It is expected that the new product will be used in 2-in-1 hybrid devices, 15-inch laptops, ultrabooks and, possibly, tablets with a folding display. Some devices will likely be shown as early as early January 2024 as part of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
The initial rollout of devices featuring the Snapdragon X Elite processor is slated for mid-2024. The new product is anticipated to be utilized in various devices such as 2-in-1 hybrids, 15-inch laptops, ultrabooks, and potentially tablets with foldable displays. It is possible that certain devices could make their debut as early as January 2024 during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

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